Altough a bit basic for a BLFer, Fenix E10 is my last EDC with its vanilla white light and forward clicky, along with my new iTp EOS A3 R5 which is always attached on my work badge.
Edwards J08 in 47s holster on my belt. Nice one handed operation with its clicky.
Qmini CR2 in my jeans coin pocket and rotate LD01, Revo SS, Qmini Ti 123, iTP A1 SS in my back pocket as backups. All of these are remnants of a time before I saw the light and started to appreciate the Beauty of Budget.
And you have nothing on a gold chain around you neck?
Rookie......
Can you make a review of that? Or a small comparison at least?
I don't have many AAA lights but there is that Black Cat I bougth to my wife and iTP is surely tinier than that.
The light is bright for its size but there isn't much hot spot to take pictures of so can't make a good comparison photo shoot for it. Black Cat has a tighter hotspot and this makes you feel it is brighter than iTP, but iTP shows itself in a dark room and amazes you with the broad light it emits. It's brightest setting is 95lumens but it isn't as striking bright (due to its floodier behaviour) as the 85lm camping output of Fenix LD25, which has a neutral R4 led and a tighter spot due to bigger smooth reflector.
Low light is very good for close work and still brighter than cheap $3 lights. The white is a bit greenish, but not blue at all. The lens is coated and bright, reflector is OP and shines a big spot without any artifacts.
It's construction is nice and has a quality finish. The chain it comes with is much heavier than the light itself, and being only 65mm long, you can hide it behind an id tag easily. The twisty action needed some getting used to and I still don't feel comfortable turning on with one hand. Mode changing isn't that much a problem if you have both hands. 3 modes, low-medium and high, are changed by quickly twisting the light of and on. No strobes, no worries.
After seeing how a high quality could be squeezed in such a small package, I definitely will buy one of the bigger EDC/semi-tactical iTP lights, maybe SA1 Eluma R5 too.
I have fell into carrying my Quark AA2 Tactical (R5). After the first few times I banged some anno off, I now treat it like a trusted tool instead of a pretty toy. I like the bright-per-AA package, the forward clicky and the super low, low mode.
Foy
pocket=itp A1 in a little pouch with a spare 16340 cell
edc belt=itp sa1 with 14500..spare 14500 in my pocket..
awesome setup for just about everything..
These days it's my TR-801, which I modded to XM-L and a 2,8 amp driver.
Ultrafire C3 (because it's crap and i'm not affraid to loose it), or Akoray k-109.
I have been carrying a SC60W since I got it a month ago.
"and why?" Well I'll tell you. :p Because it is as small as some of my AA lights and will run full blast for 2 hours (or a LOT longer at a reasonable setting). Add in its neutral-ly goodness and I've got my perfect EDC. Might be a tad bit large come summertime, but we'll see.
TrustFire F20, driver board replaced with a re-programmed NANJG-18. I like it because it is reasonably small and I can swap the 14500 for an ordinary NiMH or alkaline cell if I'm away from home and out of juice.
Im still EDCing my D10s (of varying conditions depending on where I go that day) and a V10R. All the other torches get to go out when I feel like it.
Seriously want to have a really compact 18650 EDC, these AAs just don't have the runtime/output for their size (changing batteries a couple times a week). My AA torches are all the size of a compact 18650 torch such as a Xeno G95... Only problem is finding one with a good UI. Seriously contemplating making one.. HAHA dreams on......
Maybe a bit old-school, by the time the weather got colder and I began to wear thicker coats with bigger pockets, last week I were carrying a Ultrafire WF502B with MC-E K drop-in. I love the size of a 502B and the power of 18650s.
This week I plan to carry a Maglite XL100. Its size is almost the comfortable minimum for my big hands. It throws well, enough light for everyday use, low battery consumption (due to low output :) ), has a good tint, has tons of features to play with, and I got 18 AAA's recently :D.
I have a XTAR WK25 flashlight in my pocket everyday. It takes 1xAA battery. Very small, but quite bright. I really like it.
Bought from szwholesale as a gift.
www.szwholesale.com/xtar-cree-105lumens-3mode-1xaa-flashlightxtarwk25-p-3858.html
I like that design
Welcome to BLF, LW510 ;)
Aloha and welcome to BLF LW510!
Thank you Sashix & fishinfool ^_^
Quark Mini CR2 (XP-G) on my keychain as a backup for anything I carry (or forget to carry).... I suppose it's borderline not-budget (although it is under $40 shipped), but probably the best money I ever spent on a complete flashlight (best money I ever spent on a flashlight ITEM so far was my Manafont 3-mode smooth reflector XM-L drop-in). Saw a few previous mention of 4sevens Quark products in this list, including the CR2.
When it's cool enough to wear a jacket, since XM-L drop-ins came out I've carried some variant of Surefire 6P clone (either Solarforce L2 or Ultrafire WF-504B... very similar).
If no jacket or I don't feel up to carrying an 18650 light, it's my Trustfire TR-Z1 (set to low, in case it goes on in my pocket--which it did once), which is something of a takeoff on the original Zebralight H30.
Again, if no larger flashlights are up to the job, the Quark Mini CR2 and its nearly 200 lumens does a remarkable job, and since it's a real 3-mode, medium and low are available if longer runtimes are needed. I carry a CR2 primary in my car and keep a LiFeP04 rechargeable in the light (going to purchase a li-ion, they're just a bit hard to find; Lighthound has them).
Dishonorable mention: MXDL "3W" 16340 from DX. Has the "overeasy egg" LED. Yes it DOES pull 3 watts--but the question is, what does it DO with those 3 watts. And the answer is: not a lot (at least not from the perspective of a budget flashaholic). Inefficient, weak, bad/blueish tint. Terrible by today's standards, even with low expectations for anything 3 watts, even if it was only $7 or so.... $7 wasted. Bought it originally for to screw a P60-style drop-in pill into the head, but the threading stops partway down on all the drop-ins I own. Apparently DX's MC-E drop-in used to have threading which went all the way down the pill, enabling it to screw into the head, but I think I read they're not like that anymore, and price on the mc-e drop-ins are ridiculous today as the prices haven't really gone down, and the drop-ins reportedly didn't drive the MC-E very well in the first place, even with a LiMN/LMR 16340 (or even 18650, according to my friend who has one--pulls only like 1.4 amps, can't remember exactly). I'm not even sure if it's good enough to gift/pass along without embarrassment to both parties. And it's not as small as I expected.
I've concluded that you must not have antipathy towards your keychain light, because you have to see it/feel it multiple times a day. So the Quark Mini CR2 fits the bill. I wish they made a reflectorless/even smaller "mule" version.
I have to agree with you brjones, I absolutely love my quark mini cr2 s2 edition. One of my top 3 favorite lights easily!
I currently EDC the N-light AAA 3 mode .. Modified with a mechanical revers clicky [ A joy to use with this mod ]
Fully regulated output , comparable to ITP [ output ] and Stainless Steel .
